Invest in Bulgaria

Bulgaria is located in the Southern-Eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The country shares it boundaries with Turkey and Greece on South, Yugoslavia, and FY Republic of Macedonia on the west. Bulgaria previously a communist nation entered EU in 2007. Consecutive Government in Bulgaria has showed a commitment towards economic reforms and responsible fiscal planning. Bulgarian economy has consistently shown a GDP growth of 6% since year 1996 to 2008. Bulgaria has gained from the other emerging EU economies which helped the EU countries from systematic financial and economic meltdown in year 2009. Recovery of Bulgaria economy was expected to grow at 0.5% in 2010 while the growth of economy in 2011 is predicted to be around 3.5%.

Bulgaria’s educated and low wage workforce would give added economic benefits to high productivity sectors that are looking for a regional base in EU. This factor has proved true and the country has seen substantial development in logistics, high-tech and advanced sectors.

Trends:

The growth of economy is fuelled by export performance, enterprise profitability, strong business and consumer confidence. The global recession dampened the economy but the government action of cutting on expenditure, lower state investment spending and cost saving at ministries helped the economy in big way. The period from 1997 to 2000 is mainly marked in Bulgaria’s economy as an era of economy restructuring. This period is known for the mass privatization programmed undertaken by Bulgaria which attracted good foreign direct investment projects in the country.

Some interesting facts about the investor-friendly Bulgaria:

Bulgaria is growing economy and government has taken concrete steps to present Bulgaria as an investor friendly destination for investors. Besides the 10% flat tax rate, the government also offers reduced corporate tax for investors investing in backward regions(less industrialized) or regions having high unemployment. Besides, acquiring property is also made easy for investors interesting in investing in different sectors in Bulgaria.

Growth Figures and FDI figures:

After joining EU, Bulgaria economy has shown quick growth and as per the figures released by National Statistical Institute (NSI), the economy grew by staggering 7.1% in the second quarter of 2088 and the growth has continued since then.

EU membership has given a great boost to Bulgarian trade by integrating Bulgaria’s economy into free market without any restriction on movement of goods and services. Though the domestic consumption has slackened due to the increasing rate of unemployment, the export based economy is working positively to sustain the growth.

Bulgarian economy has always attracted an impressive foreign investment since its inception. FDI invest in Bulgaria is mainly from EU members, particularly Greece. Bulgaria managed to attract foreign investment worth EUR 6 B and EUR 9 B in year 2008 and 2007 respectively. Forecast had predicted that Bulgaria will manage to attract EUR 3.2 B of foreign investments by the end of the year 2010.

Today, Investors rank Bulgaria high as a place for low cost production, In addition, the export driven economy and Bulgaria’s potential for growth are some of the interesting factors that are attracting investors across the world.

Keys industries and sector to invest in Bulgaria:

The sectors that have drawn major foreign direct investments include energy, chemical industry, construction and real estate.

The real estate prices in Bulgaria are inexpensive if you compare it with other western EU states. Bulgaria is steadily growing as an alternative hotspot for property investment in the European Union. The country is experiencing a construction boom and many of the major cities have got a complete facelift. There is lot of potential in construction sector in comparison to other western countries in terms of standards and the quality of construction available in the country is world class. There is multitude of infrastructure projects expecting realization in coming years. Investors have exciting investment opportunities in commercial and industrial project throughout Bulgaria

Bulgaria is rapidly becoming a modern country. The construction business is booming in Bulgaria. For the last 10 years the faces of most of the major cities have changed completely. There is a tremendous potential in new construction as costs are quite low compared to Western European standards and the quality is world class. In addition, there are plenty of infrastructure projects being realized. Residential, commercial and industrial construction offers tons of interesting opportunities throughout the country.Incentives provided by government of Bulgaria to promote investment

The most appealing factor for investing in Bulgaria is 10% flat tax on business profits. Investors who have earned a Class A or B investment certificate would be qualified to acquire municipal property or private property without a tender or a competitive procedure. The InvestBulgaria agency will provide state support to project on renewable energy resources.

The Government has announced a reduction in corporate tax for investors investing in region having high percentage of unemployment. The Bulgarian government also provide many concessions over ownership of objects that are state property such as biological and mineral resources, waterfront and man y such other objects.

Resources:

Bulgaria established a Foreign Investment Agency as one stop shop for investors. It is governmental agency comprising council of ministers for coordinating activities of the State institutions in the area of foreign investments and promotion of FDI in the country. The main function of the agency is to provide assistance to companies interested in investing in Bulgaria. It provides comprehensive information to the investors about the legal process, investment laws, and assistance in finding suitable Bulgarian partners and co-ordinates with other institution on investment policy